September 1 is the busiest lease turnover date in the country and Greater Boston is where it happens. If you manage units in this market you know what the last week of August looks like: everything that will not fit in a rented truck ends up at the curb, and the building next door is doing exactly the same thing on exactly the same morning.
Book those containers in July. Not because we are trying to rush a decision, but because by August 30th every roll-off inside thirty miles is already committed, and the ones that are not are priced accordingly.
The September 1 problem
Two things make the turnover week harder than the volume alone suggests. Street placement gets scarce exactly when everyone needs it, and a lot of towns require a permit for it, which is the customer's responsibility to obtain. And the material coming out of a unit is precisely the material Massachusetts restricts most tightly.
Anything on your own property, in a lot or a driveway, avoids the permit question entirely. Where you have that option, take it.
Mattresses are the expensive surprise
Massachusetts banned mattresses and box springs from disposal in November 2022. They cannot go in a roll-off, and there is no version of this where a few quietly get through. A turn week with four units and four mattresses needs a mattress recycler booked separately.
Plan that cost in rather than discovering it on pickup day, where it arrives as a $200 prohibited-item fee plus whatever the disposal facility charges us. Textiles are on the same ban list, which covers the abandoned clothing and linen that comes out of almost every unit.
Court-ordered move-outs
If a unit is being cleared under an execution for possession, the tenant's belongings do not go in a container. Massachusetts routes them through a bonded storage process handled with the constable or sheriff, and getting that wrong is the kind of mistake that ends up in front of a judge with your company's name on it.
Talk to your attorney before delivery day. If the date moves as a result, tell us and we will move the slot. We would much rather reschedule than be the container in the photograph.
Parking lots take damage
A loaded 20-yard puts several tons onto four small contact points. On new asphalt, or on any asphalt in August, the rails leave impressions that do not come out. Plywood under the rails solves it. Tell us the lot is new or recently sealed when you book, and note it in the placement field so it reaches the driver rather than an inbox.
Worth checking too: catch basins, the turning radius for a truck that is longer than a moving van, and in winter whether the placement spot is where the plow contractor stacks snow.
Basements and storage cages
A storage cage cleanout has the widest range of restricted material of any job we run, because nobody knows what is in it until the lock comes off. Paint from a unit that turned over in 2014, half a can of gas for a mower that is long gone, a dorm fridge, tires, a television. All prohibited, all common.
The workable approach is to open everything first, stage the restricted material to one side, and then load. It is slower on the day and much cheaper at the gate. The full prohibited list is worth forwarding to whoever is running the crew.
Several properties, one schedule
If you manage more than a couple of buildings, the thing worth having is not a discount, it is a date you can rely on. Email your turn schedule to [email protected] and we will tell you honestly what we can hold and what we cannot. We are a small operation, so the answer is sometimes no. It will not be a maybe.
Need this on a schedule?
Request a commercial accountSizes for a unit turn
A studio or one-bedroom turn is usually a 10 or 12 yard. A larger unit with furniture left behind is a 15. Basement and storage cage clearances, or several units at once, go in the 20.
Custom commercial pricing and quotes
Commercial rates and included tonnage are set per agreement, not off a rate card — volume, schedule and what the loads actually weigh all move the number. Call 617-459-7536 and Steve will price the work itself, or send the outline and he calls you.
Call 617-459-7536 Request a quote online
Just need one container, once? A single roll-off still books online in about a minute at the published rate.
Questions from property managers
Can mattresses go in the dumpster?
No. Massachusetts banned mattresses and box springs from disposal in November 2022, so they have to go to a mattress recycler. This is the most common and most expensive surprise on an apartment turnover, so book the recycler at the same time as the container.
When should I book containers for September 1 turnovers?
July. Greater Boston concentrates an extraordinary share of its lease turnovers on one date, and roll-off availability across the region is effectively gone by the last week of August.
Can we put the container in the parking lot?
Yes, and it is usually the best option because it avoids the street permit question entirely. If the lot is newly paved or recently sealed, tell us and we will put plywood under the rails so the surface is not marked.
Can we dispose of an evicted tenant’s belongings in a container?
Not without legal advice first. Massachusetts handles property removed under a court execution through a bonded storage process rather than disposal. Check with your attorney before delivery day, and we will hold or move the slot while you do.